Batman is one of the most influential characters ever to grace the comic page and one of the most popular. As heroes go he is even one of the very few who have bested the likes of Superman though as a hero he is only a man. His power comes in the form of his gadgets and intellect. There is a storyline that tackles that idea head on, where Bruce Wayne comes face to face with the fact that he is only a man. He can’t accept it. Writer Denny O’Neil tells the “Venom” story within the pages of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight beginning with issue #16. It’s a five part intense storyline that should be required reading for any Batman fan. After he fails to save the life of a little girl because he isn’t strong enough to move a boulder to prevent her from drowning Batman searches for a way to become more than just a man, more human than human… and he finds it. Batman meets a doctor who has created a drug that when taken can increase strength beyond anything that is normally possible. What he doesn’t realize is that the drug affects its users mental state as well, however it does so adversely. Bruce Wayne becomes addicted to the drug as he uses it to aid him in his crime fighting, but not without consequences. Alfred is the first to turn away from Bruce and the new road he has taken and it only gets worse from there because there is more to the story than just a drug addicted Batman. He has to stop a man super-powered by the same drug. Although the entire story is pretty awesome, my favorite aspect of it is the first part with Issue 16. It taps into something within Batman’s psyche that once he begins using the pills is bypassed. This issue is at the core of what happens in the rest of the story. Because if it weren’t these pills, it would have been something else and the question of how Batman can be more human than Bruce Wayne is something he must contemplate every time he puts on the cowl.
Leave a Reply